Longevity starts with eating monsters

Chapter 8 Xiayuan County
After dealing with the bodies of the bandits, Lu Chen encountered no more obstacles along the way. He successfully walked onto the official road and found the target location.

Xiayuan County.

As he approached the town, the first thing Lu Chen saw was the crowded crowds outside the city, as well as the butcher shops and porridge factories along the city wall.

Judging from their sallow faces and thin bodies, these people outside the city should be refugees caused by the drought in Jiangzhou. Now these refugees have set up a large number of tents outside the city. From time to time, people from the city come out and select strong young men from the refugees to enter the city.

The whole process is in order.

The refugees obeyed the officers and soldiers' jurisdiction, and the officers and soldiers did not bully the refugees. Everything seemed so peaceful that Lu Chen couldn't help but smile.

"Finally, there's a place that looks like a human being."

After traveling through time and space, Lu Chen finally saw a place of order. After experiencing the desperate situation in the Vegetable Cave, the order before him was particularly precious.

"Let's go into the city."

Lu Chen took Lin Yunying and planned to enter the city immediately.

However, just as the two men reached the city gate, the soldier in charge of guarding the city suddenly frowned, then stepped forward and stopped them.

"stop!"

The soldier looked stern and said in a strong voice: "Refugees are not allowed to enter the city. If you are hungry, you can go to the porridge factory or butcher shop nearby."

"Your Excellency has misunderstood. We are not refugees."

Lu Chen was not surprised to see this. Refugees entering the city would easily disrupt order, so it was normal not to allow them to enter the city. He immediately bowed and said, "We are merchants from the court."

"peddler?"

The soldier was stunned when he heard this, and then his expression became hesitant: "Which family?"

"Lin's Company."

Lin Yunying took a step forward and whispered.

"Lin's Trading Company?" The soldier thought for a moment and said in surprise, "I remember this group of merchants was robbed by bandits while transporting grain, and all of them died."

As soon as these words came out, tears welled up in Lin Yunying's eyes, but the little girl wiped her eyes firmly and said clearly: "The caravan was indeed attacked by the tiger monster from Jingyang Mountain on the road, and all the food was burned. Fortunately, someone rescued us, so we escaped."

"This is the pass to our company."

After saying that, Lin Yunying took out a piece of deed paper from her small cloth bag and added, "I know Uncle Song from the prison department, and he can testify."

The expression of the "prison warden" soldier suddenly became serious.

As a special government office of the imperial court against demons, the status of the Prison Warden is self-evident, and it has an extraordinary status in this small county.

".That's fine."

The soldier finally let them go: "Come with me, I'll take you to the prison. Don't run around. The people in the city don't like you outsiders."

After following the soldiers into the city, the full picture of Xiayuan County finally appeared before Lu Chen's eyes.

The county town is not big and the population is not large.

A rough estimate is that there are only about four to five thousand people.

However, what surprised Lu Chen was that there seemed to be some kind of event going on in the city at this moment. Ornaments and lanterns could be seen everywhere, and masked actors walking around.

"temple fair?"

"It's a big festival."

The soldier explained, "On the fifteenth day of every month, the people in the city hold a grand ceremony to ask the City God for blessings for smooth sailing in the next month."

"Today is already the tenth day, and the time for the grand festival will soon be here."

Lu Chen was a little surprised when he heard this. It was normal to hold a ceremony to pray for peace, but once a month was a bit too frequent. Are all the people in the city so idle?
Along the way, Lu Chen also heard a lot of people chatting.

There were even discussions related to Lin Yunying.

"Have you heard that the Lin's Company, an official merchant appointed by the imperial court, was robbed by demons while transporting grain?"

"No, I heard it was the big beast from Jingyang Mountain that did it. None of the hundreds of people survived, and all the food that was transported was snatched away."

"This is how it is in troubled times. Human life is worthless."

"Fortunately, we have the blessing of the City God, so we can live such a stable life. But then again, without food, what will happen to the disaster victims?"

"Why worry about them?"

"Oh, that's right! That's right!"

Hearing this, the crowd burst into laughter.

But when they saw Lu Chen approaching, the laughter stopped. Everyone looked at Lu Chen for a moment, and then dispersed in silence.

The Prison Warden's Office is located in the center of Xiayuan County.

After the soldiers reported at the gate of the yamen, several guards in the yamen took Lu Chen and Lin Yunying to a lobby of the prison.

"Wait here for a moment. Master Song will be here soon."

The visitor also served tea and seemed very polite.

Seeing this, Lu Chen smiled slightly, then found a seat and sat down, looking around the entire lobby, and finally settled on a square table at the top. On both sides of the table were the two main beams of the lobby, and there was a couplet on top.

First couplet: The world is at peace and the times are prosperous.

Second line: The whole country celebrates the good harvest with joy.

Horizontal comment: The country is peaceful and the people are safe

On the table below the horizontal scroll, there was a goose-feather knife with dark red spots on the blade, which looked like rust or dried blood.

"This is my sword."

Lu Chen responded and turned around, only to see a middle-aged man wearing a scarlet official robe, with a kind smile on his face, walking into the lobby door.

"I used this sword to conquer Xiayuan County and build the Demon Suppression Prison. With this achievement, I became the Chief Justice of the Prison Department."

The middle-aged man's tone was very peaceful: "But now that everything is peaceful, I don't need it on a daily basis, so I put it here to remind myself not to forget my roots."

At this point, Lin Yunying on the side could no longer hold back: "Uncle Song!"

"Yunying." The middle-aged man showed a distressed look when he saw this, and then said softly: "This matter is my fault. I should go to meet Brother Lin in person."

The little girl shook her head and wiped away her tears.

The next second, Lu Chen found that his sleeves were carefully pulled up by her: "Thanks to Brother Lu, I can come back to see you."

"."

After saying this, the middle-aged man finally looked at Lu Chen: "I know. He was able to bring you back, so he must have passed the test of Jingyang Mountain Lord."

"My name is Song Kui, and I'm the chief judge of Xiayuan County Prison Department."

"You saved Yunying, I will definitely reward you handsomely for this."

At this point, Song Kui paused and changed the subject: "But the tiger must be furious that you have robbed its prey. The most urgent thing is to confirm its location first."

"No, it's right here."

Lu Chen pursed his lips, and Lin Yunying immediately threw a large cloth bag in her hand to the ground, revealing the tiger's hideous head with its eyes open after death.

At this moment, Song Kui's expression froze slightly.

".well done."

After a moment of silence, Song Kui nodded: "But the tiger is only one of the troubles. There are also a group of bandits attached to him who need me to deal with."

puff~
The second head that died with its eyes open rolled to the ground. It was the head of the bandit leader, the bearded man.

"."

After another short silence, Song Kui's face was filled with smiles again: "This is really a great gift. Brother, your martial arts skills are very high."

"Your Excellency, you are so complimentary."

Lu Chen cupped his hands and said, "I heard from Yunying that anyone who is determined to slay demons can join the Prison Department by taking the demon's head as a token of their loyalty."

Song Kui raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "You want to join the Prison Department?"

"That's exactly what I meant." Lu Chen nodded.

After receiving Lu Chen's affirmative answer, Song Kui fell silent for the third time. After a long while, he spoke: "Okay, now I am in need of a monster catcher."

"Thank you for your help, sir!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen immediately showed a hint of joy.

On the other side, Lin Yunying puffed up her cheeks: "Uncle Song! I remember there is a reward for demons and bandits, you can't forget it~"

"Uh remember, girl, why do you turn your elbow outward?"

Song Kui laughed out loud, then looked at Lu Chen again, his expression returned to normal: "Jingyang Shanjun, I offer a reward of 1,000 strings of cash, and for being a bandit, I offer a reward of 200 strings of cash."

"You are new here and you are from another place. This money can also help you gain a foothold in the city."

"The matter of the prison department is not urgent for the time being. I will handle your household registration first. Everything will be fine after you settle down. Then you can go to the city to find a place for Yunying to live."

After saying that, Song Kui reminisced about the past with Lin Yunying for a while, and then personally handed the bounty and the tokens symbolizing their household registration status to the two of them.

With the talisman, the two became "locals" of Xiayuan County.

However, after Lu Chen and Lin Yunying said goodbye and left, Song Kui's expression became depressed.

Behind him, in the shadow cast by the sun shining through his body, a sinister voice was heard: "It is indeed the head of the giant insect."

"Don't think of targeting them." Song Kui said coldly, "They have already settled down."

".I understand. I'm a local."

The sinister voice smiled and said, "But the premise is that he knows how to behave like you and won't do anything rash. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for us."

Song Kui pursed his lips upon hearing this and whispered, "I'll give him some advice later."

"That's good."

(End of this chapter)